a furious sortie, set fire to the besiegers' works, and nearly succeeded in storming their camp. In resentment of which disgrace, the Consul, on his return to the army, ordered his unfortunate vicegerent to be severely scourged; degraded him from his rank, and condemned him to serve on foot as a common soldier.- Lib. 2, 7, 4.

The Dictator Postumius Tubertus (U. C. 322) punished his own son for having, without orders, quitted his post, to engage the enemy. Although the valiant youth returned victorious from the combat, the father ordered him to be beheaded: [and, if I he not very much mistaken, the punishment of decapitation, in the Roman army, was always preceded by a severe application of the rods.]—Lib. 2, 7, 6. The Consul Manlius (413 U. C.) exercised similar severity against his own son, who, being personally challenged by the commander of a hostile party, had privately gone forth to encounter his challenger, had gal lantly defeated and slain him, and returned laden with his spoils.-Lib.2,7,6. While the Consul Calpurnius Piso was carrying on the war against the fugitive slaves in Sicily (U. C. 620), a body of Roman cavalry, under the command of C. Titius, suffered themselves to be surrounded and ignomi. niously disarmed by a party of the enemy. As a punishment for their disgraceful and un-Roman submission, the Consul condemned Titius to stand at head quarters from morn till night, bare-footed, with his vest ungirt, and his gown curtailed and this penance was continued during his whole remaining term of service; with the additional aggravation of an exclusion from all society, and a prohibition to enjoy the comfort of bathing, which, by a Roman, was deemed almost as necessary as his food.-Nor did the Consul confine his severity to the unfortunate commander of the troop: he further punished the whole corps, by dismounting them, and transferring them to the companies of slingers, the least respectable portion of a Roman army. Lib. 2, 7, 9.

know" the best mode of producing germination in exotic seeds *," that in the year 1793, M. Humbolt discovered that metallic oxydes favour it in proportion to their degree of oxydation. This fact induced him to search for a substance with which oxygen might be so weakly combined as to be easily separated, and he made choice of oxygenated muriatic gas mixed with water. The seeds of cresses soaked in this gas showed germs at the end of six hours; but not in common water till the end of thirty-two hours. The action of the first fluid on the vegetable fibres is quickly announced by a great number of air-bubbles, which cover the seeds, a phenomenon not exhibited by water till at the end of from thirty to forty-five minutes.

In 1796, he resumed the subject in new series of experiments, and found that, by joining the stimulus of caloric to that of oxygen, he was enabled still more to accelerate the progress of vegetation. He took the seeds of garden-cresses, peas, Frenchbeans, lettuce, and mignionette, equal quantities of which he put into pure water, and the gas at the temperature of 88° Fahrenheit; the cresses exhibited germs in three hours in the gas, but not in water till the end of twenty-six hours. These experiments have since been repeated by several distinguished philosophers. Professor Pobl at Dresden, caused to germinate in oxygenated muriatic acid, the seed of a new kind of Euphorbia, taken from a collection of dried plants, 120 years old. Jacquin and Vander Schott, at Vienna, threw into this acid all the old seeds which had been kept 20 or 30 years at the Botanic Garden, every previous attempt to produce vegetation in which had been fruitless, and their latent germinating powers were for the most part stimulated with success; the hardest seeds yielded to the agency of this acid. Among others which germinated were the yellow bonduc, or nickar-tree (guilandina bonduc), the pigeon cytisus (cytisus cajun), the dodonca angustifolia, the climbing mimosa (mimosa scandens), and some new kinds of the homea. See Encyclopædia Londinensis, article Germination. E. BIRCH.

* See vol. LXXXIX. ii. p. 518.

even

Mr.

the Continent, by a gentleman of York, to a near relation. Besides containing many important facts and observations, they form a very suitable appendix to Letters of a similar kind, written about a century ago, which you lately introduced into your - valuable Magazine*. If from the specimen which I have now sent, you are of opinion that they will answer your purpose, and be a source of entertainment and instruction to your Readers, I am permitted by the Author to promise you the remainder. Yours, &c. GODFREY.

Dover, July 30, 1818. On the 28th July, we applied at the French Ambassador's office, in London, for passports. Having obtained them, we proceeded to Herries's Bank, St. James's-street, and supplied ourselves with a competent number of their bills of credit, which are convertible into cash by their correspondents at upwards of 150 of the principal towns on the Continent. At Thomas's, near the Royal Exchange, we procured a supply of gold and silver coin, for immediate use. In 1814, I only received 18 francs for a one-pound note, or 15s. in the pound: in 1815, 20 francs, or 168. 8d. in the pound: I now obtained 23f. 60c. or 198. 8d. in the pound.

LETTER I.

Calais, July 31, 1818. We left Dover Harbour at five minutes past nine, and entered Calais Harbour at five minutes before twelve. The day was fine, and the wind (S.W.) fair. The packet-boat was the Chichester; the passage 10s. 6d.

On landing, we left our passports at the proper office, and our luggage

was taken to the Custom-house to be examined. If I had had any new cotton stockings, they would have been seized. We then proceeded to Quillacq's Hotel, and have ordered dinner. We are to procure new passports in lieu of those granted in London, which last will be forwarded to Paris: upon the new passports there is a stamp duty of two francs.

* See vol. LXXVIII. i. 401; LXXXIX. i. pp. 29. 122. 204.

GENT. MAG. January, 1820,

This country smells of tobacco and burnt wood, as usual. The Pillar on

erected on spot

where the King landed from England, in April 1814.

LETTER II.

Cambrai, Aug. 3, 1818.

I

As a specimen of French dinners, lacq's, premising that the table was a I will tell you what we had at Quildeal board, set upon cross sticks-. soup, soles, mutton maintenon, veal fricandeau, potatoes, chicken and argooseberries, and plums: this was the tichoke, pastry, cheese, cherries, dinner for two; the tables d'hôte are on a larger scale.-The Duke of Wellington had announced his intentiou to sleep at Quillacq's on Friday night, and was expected at half-past eleven. I sat up considering whether I should go to bed (which I felt much inclined to do), or wait the arrival of the Conqueror of France. Whilst I was laid considering that I might sleep any on a large sofa, debating the matter, night, but could not see so great a man any night; on the other hand, what better should I be for having seen him? besides, he might not come, or might be behind his time, &c. found my sitting up was not agreeable to the waiter, who every now and then made errands into the room to length, at eleven o'clock, he came see if I was wanting to retire. At into the room, blew out the two candles on the table, and was proceeding to blow out a third on the side-table and on my calling out for him to leave one candle, he replied, Tout le monde va se coucher.' This being the case, I was obliged to retire; for it was not for John Bull to introduce as all the world was going to bed, his bad customs of turning night into day. I could not, however, but suspect that my anxiety to see the Duke, and my having so repeatedly inquired about his arrival, might determine the waiter to baulk me; as the Duke is no mighty favourite with Frenchinen. The next morning, at seven, I went down to the pier, and saw the Duke's carriage embarked aboard the Lord Duncau packet. He was to sail The wind, at W. N. W. was directly at high water (between ten and eleven). against him, and his passage would probably occupy seven or eight hours at least. The sailors were disputing

about

about the number of lacks to be made, and the course to be steered, in order to get him soonest over. The Duke slept on the ground-floor of our hotel, in a room looking into the garden; his sitting-room was adjoining his bed-room. He got up between eight and nine, and at nine breakfasted with four or five officers; but the curtains were so much closed, that as we walked in the garden we could distinguish nothing. We determined not to leave Calais till we had seen him. About half past nine the master of the packet came to summon him. The Duke soon after came to the door, and looked up at the sky for a minute; he returned to his room, and in about five minutes set off to walk to the pier, in company with the officers. He said to Colonel Campbell, who was near him, Is that your carriage, Campbell?' pointing to one in the Court.-The Duke is about 5 feet 7 inches high; has an enormous nose; is a cheerful smiling man, and without the gravity which the portraits of him represent: he is about 50: he was dressed in a blue frock coat, white trowsers, and short boots. He appears stiff, as if he wore stays: the French say he has armour under his clothes, which I don't believe; but though not an ostentatious man, he seems a little of the dandy in his dress. We experienced great politeness at the Custom-house relalive to the examination of our lug. gage. There was in the same room with us at the hotel, a tall genteel young Englishman, who had lost his portmanteau he sent for some of the finest ready-made shirts; but they were extremely coarse, so short, that they would scarcely reach below the waist, and besides very narrow. After we had seen the Duke, we set off for St. Omer, in a cabriolet, calculated to contain two persons, and drawn by two horses: this we hired of Mr. Quillacq. The charge for one direct to Paris is 120 francs, but by a circuitous route, which ours is to be, 150. At the first place of changing horses, the only ostier or stable attendant was an old woman.-The harness as usual was chiefly ropes.Mount Cassell was visible a great part of the road. We arrived at St. Omer to dinner, at the Ancienne Poste, kept by an English woman. We found a great number of English officers,

with their wives and families at St. Omer; there being two English camps within four miles.-A little girl, with a small harp, played and sung in the streets very delightfully. We had a good dinner; but met with a disappointment in not being able to procure horses forward: there had been a great review the day before by Lord Wellington, which had drawn together the English families from Boulogne, Cambrai, &c. and all the horses were engaged in conveying them back again. Being informed that one of the camps was only six quarters of an hour distant, we set off to walk towards it, accompanied by a lad, as guide. We passed a fine old Jesuits' Church, now converted into a hay chamber or store bouse. On the road we overtook two Irish women, who were swearing at each other in the English fashion. What must the French think when they hear us complain of their profligacy of manners! the husband of one of the women, a soldier, told us he was a native of Limerick he and his wife complained much of the expence of living in France; a ration, which in England would cost 44d. here costs 6d. In England, when the regiment marches, the wives and families of the soldiers, bag and baggage, are conyeyed with it; but here, they must go at their own expence, and the French impose on them; she also complained that cotton for the children's frocks, &c. was much dearer than in England.

The grand Review yesterday commenced at three in the afternoon, and was to have continued till night, with several sham fights, representing actions in Spain, and the battle of Waterloo-but the rain came on, and the Duke stopped the Review in about half an hour after it had begun. After we had walked about two miles we came in view of the encampment -a great number of white tents, on an eminence about two miles further; and as we found we should see a similar encampment at Cambrai, we did not proceed further. There are ten regiments in the neighbourhood of St. Omer. We were joined on the way back by a Highlander, a soldier in the 71st, who has been 32 years in the army. He is a native of lover

whom he fought in Egypt, over our modern Generals, and the greater hardships he then experienced, than in modern campaigns. On one occasion in Egypt they were two days without water; and his colonel repeatedly laid himself on the ground in a dry pond, and endeavoured to suck moisture for his lips from the mud. Lord Hill he describes as the soldier's friend, and the grand favourite of the army. "As for the other man," (he said) "he would not care to hang a soldier on the spot, if he found him taking any thing from a Frenchman.”—As our road was on rising ground, we had an advantageous view of the venerable Churches of St. Omer. In the evening, we sauntered about the beautiful abbey of St. Bertin: it remains in the same dilapidated state as in 1815, but is no longer used as a military storehouse: the inside is now quite open.-Several young English officers dined in the same room with us. Cricket parties, the gaming-table, and a ball at Lady Clark's, formed the principal topics of conversation: they spent a quarter of an hour in settling a point which regt. wore the handsomest caps, and what of ficers had the best seat on horseback, &c-The next morning we proceeded to Aire, nine miles, to breakfast. We passed some handsome churches on the way. At our Inn (the Old Post) we were charged for breakfast 5 francs (viz. for coffee, and milk, and eggs) but on our offering 4, the landlady was quite content, and at our departure wished us a good voyage. This is a strongly fortified town, and has a noble marketplace, and a handsome town-house. The Church of a Convent in the town has been turned into a storehouse, according to the usual revolutionary custom. Between nine and ten the great bell of the principal Church tolled for mass; the tone was very deep, and the vibrations after the bell was struck, varied from a minor third to a second from the key note.-In front of the entrance of the Church, appeared Christ on the Cross, on mount Golgotha: as the blood spouted out of his side, a little cherub caught it in a cup. The representation was on so large a scale, as to be visible to a considerable distance. The congregation consisted of about 1000 persons. The Church is a fine build

ing, in the modern gothie stile, with a handsome tower. The organ was a large and good one, but much out of tune. About 20 priests assisted at the mass: the Epistle and Gospel, instead of being read in Latin from the altar, were read in French from a pulpit in the nave. After each was read, the Priest read in French an exposition of the Epistle and Gospel respectively. Each exposition occupied from ten minutes to a quarter of an hour; and as far as I could collect, was plain and intelligible. The people were also very attentive. Alter this was done, the banns of marriage were published, and all the priests proceeded to the altar, where mass was continued by chanting the Nicene Creed, the priests afterwards making collections through the Church, &c. The chaunting was as untuneable as possible, and all in cunto fermo, or unison. Throughout the whole country, between Calais and Cambrai, there is no pasture land, but all grain. We have not seen any oxen, and very few sheep; wheat, which is the principal grain, is an abundant crop; dats are thin, and beans are totally burnt up and destroyed. The drought here is more excessive than in England; there were a few showers on Saturday afternoon, after which the weather took up again, and to-day is without a cloud. The thermometer has seldom been higher than 70. It is a much richer country, in point of fertility, than any part of Eugland of the same extent; and in general consists of gently sloping hills, which are so distributed, that the face of the country is usually visible to a considerable distance, and not, as with us, shutting up the view. But about Douay and Cambrai it is as flat as Flanders.

August 3.-We have been dining, indifferently as to our eating, but with a bottle of white Hermitage at dinner, and a bottle of fine Champagne after it; in which we have drank the health of all friends.—If you were here, you would have an excellent opportunity to buy some Cambric for handkerchiefs; I under stand it is less than half the price you pay for it in England: if I attempt it, I shall probably be imposed upon. Yours, &c.

(To be continued.)

X.

Mr.